2010 Phoenix Year in Review

TOP TEN PHOENIX NEWSMAKERS

In 2010, Phoenix faced severe budget cuts, fallen officers, an investigation into the county sheriff as well as battles over a Mormon temple, a pioneer museum and CityNorth.

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Joe Arpaio

A federal grand jury began investigating criminal allegations against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's agency, including abuse of power. The criminal investigation joined an ongoing civil-rights probe from the Justice Department. Through it all, Arpaio's operation continued to run normally until one of his top commanders submitted a 63-page memo to sheriff's investigators that detailed years of alleged misconduct from some of the sheriff's top administrators. Three of Arpaio's top aides were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

Credit: Charlie Leight/The Arizona Republic

Two fallen officers

The city mourned the line-of-duty death of Phoenix police Officer Travis Murphy in May when he was gunned down during a foot pursuit. In October, the department suffered another fatal on-duty shooting when South Mountain Precinct Sgt. Sean Drenth was found dead alongside his patrol car near the Arizona Capitol. The case was immediately shrouded in mystery as police officials said little on the cause and manner of Drenth's unsolved death.

Credit: Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic

Board of Supervisors

Throughout 2010, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and county administrators cooperated with the U.S. Department of Justice's abuse of power investigation into Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas. They testified against Arpaio before a grand jury and gathered evidence for the probe. The supervisors also battled Arpaio over allegations of misspending, threatening to hold him in contempt.

Credit: Nick Oza/The Arizona Republic

Police scrutiny

Public scrutiny of the Phoenix Police Department reached a new high in March when Councilman Michael Johnson claimed his civil rights were violated by a young officer who handcuffed him and forced him to the ground. Since then, a city task force has worked to develop recommendations on how police can better work with the community. Many of those suggestions centered on South Mountain Precinct, where Officer Richard Chrisman shot and killed an unarmed suspect in October, the first-ever case in which a Phoenix officer was charged with murder in an on-duty shooting.

Credit: Nick Oza/The Arizona Republic

County attorney

As his corruption cases against judges and county officials fell apart, Andrew Thomas resigned as Maricopa County attorney to run for attorney general, but he was defeated in the Republican primary by Tom Horne. Now Thomas faces allegations of ethical and criminal misconduct that, if proved, could result in his disbarment. Rick Romley had been appointed interim office holder, but he was defeated in the primary by Bill Montgomery, who took office in November and has vowed to make peace with county officials.

Credit: Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

St. Joseph's Hospital

The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix strips St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center's status as a Catholic hospital for failing to strictly adhere to Bishop Thomas Olmsted's demands that the hospital comply with church moral teaching. The diocese and the hospital spent months trying to reach agreement over the bishop's belief that the hospital violated the church's Ethical and Religious Directives for Health Care in a case in which the pregnancy of a terminally ill woman was ended to save her life.

Credit: Jack Kurtz/The Arizona Republic

CityNorth

It was a tough year for CityNorth, expected to be the centerpiece of suburban development. First, developers had to defend a city agreement that included a 50/50 sales tax sharing agreement. They won at the Arizona Supreme Court, but that was the end of the good fortune. Lenders foreclosed on phase 1 -- the only portion to have opened -- and a lawsuit with Gray Development Group resulted in a $110 million judgment against Northeast Phoenix Partners, the group behind the development. By year's end, it appeared that its promoters would be out of the picture before long.

Credit: Jack Kurtz/The Arizona Republic

Budget cuts

The worst economic crisis in recent history crippled Phoenix as the city struggled to close a more than $277 million budget deficit. The shortfall threatened to shutter libraries, close senior centers and force massive layoffs. To close the gap, Mayor Phil Gordon and the City Council responded by levying a 2 percent tax on food, the first in Phoenix since the 1980s. Employees also took wage and benefit cuts, and several programs and services were cut. Since then, the city charged a task force with finding ways to save at least $10 million in the first year.

Credit: David Wallace/The Arizona Republic

Pioneer museum

The city's journey to buy the 92-acre property that houses the Pioneer Living History Museum, 3901 W. Pioneer Road, was no walk in the park. A private real estate entity outbid them by $10,000 at a state land auction in July. Phoenix, which originally bid $3.2 million, took the matter to Maricopa County Superior Court where a settlement was hammered out. The city bought the land for $3.55 million in August.

Credit: Diana Payan/The Arizona Republic

Mormon temple

A redesigned Phoenix Temple surprised neighbors in August when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unveiled a new design. Neighbors noticed a taller spire and wider temple, which would be located west of the church's meeting house, 5104 W. Pinnacle Peak Road. Phoenix Temple's footprint is 27,423-square-foot with a basement, which is an increase from the 9,500-square-foot that the church proposed in 2009. The church submitted plans to the city's development services department for further study.